ALP post-mortem damns Rudd

A SECRET Labor Party report has criticised the government led by Kevin Rudd as lacking purpose and being driven by spin and implies that the former prime minister or his supporters were behind the leaks that almost destroyed Julia Gillard's election campaign.

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Leaked report sharpens Labor tension

Leadership tension flares again in the Labor Party over a leaked report blaming Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd for the governments problems.

The report is the so-called sealed section of the 2010 election review conducted by party elders John Faulkner, Steve Bracks and Bob Carr and was never meant to be made public.

Obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald, the report's findings will inflame tensions between Mr Rudd and Julia Gillard, which were on display throughout the three-day ALP national conference in Sydney which finished yesterday.

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Mr Rudd was upset that his role as prime minister was clinically deleted from Ms Gillard's opening speech on Friday and from a tribute to Labor's handling of the global financial crisis.

The confidential report cites a period of drift and complacency for the Rudd government which began in mid-2009 after the opposition under Malcolm Turnbull was crippled by the Godwin Grech-utegate affair.

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Internal research began to show public doubts about the government's economic credentials, direction and priorities, despite its strong poll figures.

"The government was beginning to be seen by a portion of the population as lacking a core purpose and being driven by spin" ... a secret Labor Party report revealed about Kevin Rudd's administration. Photo: Jacky Ghossein

''Ministers would make announcements and then move on to something different very quickly. In this context, the government was beginning to be seen by a portion of the population as lacking a core purpose and being driven by spin.''

The report accuses the Rudd government of being rich on themes, announcements and talking up a narrative but short on substance and follow-through.

''What the government lacked was a refined political plan standing behind this narrative which concerned timing and execution, building community support and alliances, and prosecuting hard cases against all opponents with ruthlessness.''

The ''frenetic pace'' of government ''produced numerous reviews and media announcements which did not contribute to the core narrative of the government''. One contributor to the review said ''it was never a case of not standing for anything, rather it was a case of standing for many things but explaining them poorly''.

''The necessary groundwork just had not been done.''

The report says the bungled home insulation plan undermined the economic stimulus program, confidence in the government's ability to manage complex projects ''and its competence more generally''.

It criticises the design of the program and recommends that to prevent future bungles, the government ''establish a war-gaming group'' to scrutinise all major policies before release.

This group would include the prime minister's chief of staff, party leaders and party officials.

Mr Rudd was dumped by the party on June 24 last year after Labor plunged in the polls. His replacement, Ms Gillard, called an election three weeks later. Her campaign blew up when a series of damaging leaks emerged about her position on issues in cabinet.

The report points the finger at Mr Rudd or his supporters as well as those who continued to denigrate him after he had been dumped. ''The difficulties faced by a change in leadership so close to an election were fanned by some who opposed the change and some who wanted to continue a fight against a losing side,'' it says.

Every time Ms Gillard was generating momentum, there was ''another damaging round of internal disunity''.

''The review committee is unanimous … that these events were designed to cause damage to Labor's election chances and those involved should be condemned by the party.''

It notes that in the first week of the campaign, Mr Rudd ''dominated news stories'' and ''Labor's message was barely audible''.

It says the chaos was exacerbated when the former leader Mark Latham appeared on the campaign. ''Even though the party has and continues to do its utmost to distance itself from Mr Latham, he is still widely viewed as a Labor problem.''